Adieu blaireau

Philippe Leotard was a very talented actor who passed away recently.Since his debut (his first important part was in the war movie "avoir vingt ans dans les Aurès" though he already was in TRuffault -who "invented" him,they say- in "domicile conjugal"),he remained an interesting personality,a Serge Gainsbourg who would have relinquished music for the movies.Like the great singer/composer,his premature death suggests he probably used to burn the candle at both ends.To crown it all,his brother was a politician , the minister of defense at the time at that!(Leotard used to say:me,I'm the minister of "défonce" (=getting high!)) Everything rests on his shoulders and the director contents himself with a story full of clichés (an umpteenth version of Dassin's "night and the city" ,if you know what I mean).The lighting effects favor dark blue and orange and most of the action takes place at night.A pre-AA Juliette Binoche briefly appears as a singer.Annie Girardot could have been an ideal co-star for Leotard but her part is so underwritten it's a wonder we remember her.Watchable for Leotard's fans but only for them.

Bob Decout's 1985 thriller "Adieu Blaireau" premiered at the Cognac Festival in 1985. Starring the late french crooner Philippe Léotard, Annie Girardot and Juliette Binoche. The film opens with Léotard's Fred wandering around an underground carpark with a gun muttering the name BB. Cut to titles and the films plot, which will eventually bring us back to this carpark.

The plot is fairly simple: Fred is a petty criminal and a gambler with debts. He was dating a vastly younger woman BB (Binoche) who wants nothing more to do with him. He however is obsessed with the young woman. He is recruited by crime boss victor to carry out a hit to pay for his debt. On the first attempt he is faced with someone out to kill him. He then meets the melancholic Collette a woman of his own age, who knows exactly what he does for a living but is happy to turn a blind eye. The second attempt to carry out the hit leads to the carpark we first see him in and eventually to an empty theatre where things come to a grisly conclusion as Fred realises he may have been betrayed...

Decout's film is melancholic and dark, both visually and emotionally. All the characters seem to have been damaged by life. The film is also strongly influenced by the times. Strong blues and greys offset by neons light many scenes, while shadows and a jazzy score strongly root the film in the 1980s.

Léotard gives a sure, but unremarkable performance as the jaded Fred. Equally jaded is Annie Girardot's Collette. Seeing her here it > is hard to believe she was the number 1 French actress for a time in the 1970s. Juliette Binoche appears only very briefly as BB, the woman of Freds obsessions.

"Adieu Blaireau" is entertaining, yet the characters are quite limited and visually the film is dark and somewhat staid. the direction by Decout, is sure yet un-remarkable. there is nothing here that isn't in many other french thrillers of the mid 80s.